Immediately after my new form of personal publishing went live last week, I set up lofty goals and pulled up my litany of ideas to get to writing right away. The reason this blog has existed has not been meant to be a place for me to talk about myself to the world. In fact, the reason the page that this is being read on exists is to improve my writing by opening it up to criticism and personal deadlines; creating pieces on single ideas to focus my ideas; to learn to communicate concisely, informatively, and most importantly correctly.
Unfortunately my lofty goals consistently get ahead of me.
Having dredged up some ideas from the archive that have been waiting to be turned into full-fledged posts, I now have multiple long and in-depth drafts that lay unfinished. The articles will kiss completion, but today the realization came that I needed to start small. Consistency is the key.
So, to get the ball rolling: yesterday I read A Study in Scarlet, by Arthur Conan Doyle. I admit, I’ve never read it before, although it felt a necessary classic for all to have read. It’s a fantastic novel. Having been published in 1887 – 136 years ago – the writing is very different from that of today, in the best possible way.
I read a lot. A majority of my reading is in the subject of history, or the military, or combined in military history. Rarely do I read a novel, however I have read some — especially when I was younger. The books that are on my reading list would seem extremely dry to most people, without some central narrative story to focus on except for what is naturally there in the history.
However Arthur Conan Doyle’s vivid descriptions and captivating use of an extremely dynamic range of words had me hooked right away. One part that was thoroughly enjoyable was the begining of Part 2 — the story in Salt Lake City. I thought it was a completely different story at first, but was weaved back into the central narrative fantastically.
The range of the author’s diction is one I’d thoroughly enjoy being implored today, by regular people. More on this soon, in a post about email and the breakdown of personal communication standards.
There are a lot of different opinions on the novel, but for me it was a fantastic reprieve from my normal reading list. So much so, that instead of starting my next book, By The Spear by Ian Worthington, the next Sherlock Holmes novel —The Sign of the Four — demanded its attention, prior to moving on. I started it this morning, and I’m about half-way through at 2 in the afternoon. I may even include the next one before moving on, who knows.